Processing of semiconductor devices typically involves many steps which include masking, doping, and etching. Each time one of these steps is performed, certain risks can arise which can jeopardize the integrity of a wafer being processed. For example, a mask misalignment error can cause a subsequent etch to undesirably etch into wafer or substrate structure which can cause catastrophic failure. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the number of processing steps utilized in the formation of integrated circuitry.
This invention arose out of concerns associated with reducing the number of processing steps needed in the formation of integrated circuitry. This invention also arose out of concerns associated with improving the manner in which integrated circuitry memory devices, and in particular dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices are fabricated.